In honor of Media Literacy Week, November 6-10, each day we will recognize a key figure in the field of media literacy here in Washington state.
Media Studies Professor Nick Pernisco teaches online courses in media literacy for Santa Monica College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Radio-TV-Film and a master’s degree in Mass Communications, both from California State University, Northridge.
He has been a media professional since 1996, beginning as a freelance media producer and later working in radio advertising, music production, voice and screen acting, and film production. In 2005, Nick founded Understand Media, a media literacy website containing original articles, podcasts, videos, lesson plans, and discussion forums. Also in 2005, he founded Carmelina Films, a film production company dedicated to producing socially-relevant video content.
He is a board member at Action for Media Education, and participated in the effort to pass media literacy legislation in Washington State in 2016. Nick’s book, Practical Media Literacy, was released in 2015.